


Cold Blast

by OlafOfThundera



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Female Friendship, Gen, Major Character Injury, Medical Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3473798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlafOfThundera/pseuds/OlafOfThundera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma and Elsa encounter The Snow Queen in the forest. A family connection is realised, but will Emma tragically lose her precious new friend? One-shot featuring Emma and Elsa's developing friendship.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Blast

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies. This is my first one-shot in many years. My brain seems to enjoy making me write angsty stuff, but writing it down does help to clear my head. I have fallen in love with Emma and Elsa's friendship...they're kindred spirits. Even with the Frozen arc over, I do hope they get to see each other again one day.  
> But anyway, enjoy. Please, feel free to let me know if you like it or don't like it!  
> (Originally uploaded on FFN last October, before I knew of Ingrid's intentions and relationships with our two heros.)

The Snow Queen smirked at the three people before her. "You think you can defeat me? ME? You silly, naïve little girl. I have twice the power you have. You are weak. Far too weak to rule a kingdom. A kingdom that would have been mine if I had just managed to kill my dear little brother before you were conceived."

Elsa stood rooted to the spot, staring at the very regal looking Snow Queen. 'Her little brother?' She thought. As she gazed into the older woman's cold yet familiar eyes, recognition finally hit her.

"You're...you're my aunt? B-but my father told me you died when I was a baby."

The Snow Queen laughed, throwing her head back as she paced in front of the younger queen.

"Died? Oh dear no, child. No, I didn't die. You see, your wonderful daddy banished me from Arendelle when I tried to smother you after you were born. I almost succeeded too. If only I had heard your mother enter the nursery..."

The Snow Queen halted her pacing and turned toward a horrified Elsa. "I should have been tried for attempted regicide but, due to softness running in the family, I was silently exiled to a remote part of Mist Haven. At least there I had plenty of time and space to hone my powers. I spent years practising and perfecting my magic whereas I heard you were locked away, hidden from the world, forbidden to conjure up a single snowflake. I became so powerful that Rumpelstiltskin himself trembled...or should I say, shivered at the mere mention of my name."

Elsa held her hands defensively in front of her as the older woman casually tossed her own intricate ice crystals into the air. Anxiety and fear were coursing through her nerves, resulting in frost and ice coating the surrounding trees.

"But then I ended up in this monotonous world because some other pathetic, melodramatic little queen decided to go all power crazy and cast a preposterous curse over Mist Haven! But what does that matter now, huh, my dear, sweet Elsa? The past is in the past. I will have my revenge on my brother right here, right now." The Snow Queen suddenly threw a bolt of icy energy directly at Elsa's chest, causing the youngster to fly backward, hitting a tree trunk with a sickening thud.

"ELSA!" Emma cried out as she bolted toward the young blonde who was now sprawled unconscious on the dusty forest floor.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Emma glared at the woman in white towering over them as she gently cradled Elsa's head in her lap, stroking her soft cheek with her thumb. "No no no, Elsa wake up, please! Hook, she's ice cold. We need to get her to the hospital."

The Snow Queen snickered indignantly. "You can't save her. I doubt even I could, not that I have the desire to."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Emma screamed as she pulled the young blonde's limp body into her protective embrace.

The older woman covered her mouth as she stifled a cruel laugh. "Oops. I seem to have frozen her heart. Oh what a shame. Such an unpleasant way to die apparently. Just ask her sister."

Emma felt anger surge through her body. "You cold, heartless bitch! What she did to her sister was an accident. Anna said that herself. You did this intentionally, and all because she inherited a throne that you had no right to."

The Snow Queen snarled. "I was rightful heir to Arendelle until my brother was born. I was stripped of that right because a male heir was preferable. Now with him dead and his offspring following suit, I will attempt to find a way back to Arendelle as rightful queen!"

Emma cuddled Elsa tightly to her chest. "And what about Anna? She is the rightful queen if Elsa...dies." Emma felt her stomach drop after saying those words. Elsa will not die, she was going to make sure of that.

"Anna?" Snorted the older queen. "Anna can't live without her beloved sister. She will simply die of a broken heart. And even if she doesn't..." To hammer her point home, the Snow Queen confidently tossed an orb of ice into the air. She strode away, laughing as the orb burst into millions of shimmering crystals. "Goodbye little Elsa. I hope you had fun playing with your auntie today."

"Hook, not now! Let her go, she's too dangerous to deal with alone!" Emma yelled out to the pirate as he spun around to pursue the villainous queen. "And I need you here." Emma tenderly caressed Elsa's face, trying to rouse her. "Please wake up." Elsa's eyes slowly drifted open, tears already forming. "It...it hurts", she gasped, clutching at her chest.

"I know, sweetheart, I know it hurts. But you're gonna be okay, you're not gonna die. We just need to get you warmed up."

"No. It's f-for the best. Everyone here is s-scared of me. I'm a danger to Storybrooke. I can't get home so it's better if I...if I die."

"NO! Don't you dare! I need you. Anna needs you." Emma felt tears well in her eyes as she tried to convince Elsa to fight.

Elsa locked eyes with Emma. "Anna doesn't need me. She is the strongest person I know. It was me that needed her. And Emma, I'm just a danger to you..." Elsa's icy blue eyes fluttered shut as she finished her sentence.

"Hook, please take her, let's get her to the hospital..."

* * *

 

" _Temp is down to 87.9 I can't get a BP reading_."

" _Heart rate has decreased to 36. SATS are still dropping._ "

" _Increase oxygen to 100%. Make sure all IVs are heated._ "

Emma strained to hear something hopeful in the barrage of medical jargon from Elsa's bedside. As each painful minute passed, the loud beeps from the heart monitor got slightly slower. The staff activity became more frantic. She felt utterly helpless.

" _Get some cortisone and potassium going and increase fluids, we need to get her BP back up._ "

_"Get another heated blanket, quickly."_

Emma mulled over all that had happened in the past week. Despite their rocky first moments together, she and Elsa had quickly become close friends, sharing many traits, fears and doubts. She had felt her motherly instincts rise as she shared in many of Elsa's 'firsts' in a foreign and frightening world. Her first ride in a car, her first experience with a cell phone and a television, her first taste of pizza; followed of course with hot cocoa topped with cinnamon. And boy did that girl need mothering. Thirteen years of virtually no human contact since she was a small child had made her a social disaster.

"Come on kiddo, don't give up. Keep fighting!" Emma whispered, hoping somehow Elsa would hear her.

Elsa had told her what Hans had tried to do. How he falsely convinced her that she had killed her sister and how she felt she deserved to die too. And now this had happened. It baffled and sickened her how people could treat such a good, sweet girl so cruelly. All because she happened to be the first born of a king. The lottery of birth had made her a target for evil.

" _Pupils are dilated, she's totally unresponsive._ "

" _Temp is down to 86.7...why is she getting colder? It doesn't make sense..._ "

Every word that was uttered by the medical staff became more agonising. Her precious new friend was slipping away. Yet another loved one in her life being cruelly snatched away.

_"I'll get a central line in."_

" _SATS are still dropping, she is barely breathing._ "

" _Right, intubate her, NOW!_  "

Emma was vaguely aware of her body shivering. Her father's and Hook's arms around her did little to help. She felt as cold as she did when she was trapped with Elsa in the ice wall. 'Please Elsa' she thought, praying to any entity who would hear her desperate plea. 'Please fight this. Please pull through.'

"Elsa?"

Emma looked behind her to see the source of the sweet, fearful voice.

Anna.

The redhead had been accompanied in by Regina, who was visibly taken aback by the scene unfolding in front of them. Being a queen herself, she had grown fond of Elsa in the short time she had known her. She had become rather protective of the young Arendellian ruler after learning that she had experienced similar prejudices and distrust that she herself faced on a daily basis.

The distress on Anna's face was obvious. "What...what happened to her? How did...why is she...who...?"

David left Emma in Hook's capable arms and approached a very bewildered Anna.

"It was The Snow Queen. Elsa was determined to stop her or at least reason with her. They encountered her out in the forest again. Cutting a long story short, she attacked Elsa with her ice powers. She..."

"...froze her heart" Anna finished, knowing what that would entail.

David nodded as he cast his gaze upon the floor, unsure what to say next.

"But...but I just got her back" Anna whispered, her words soaked with anguish.

"I'm so sorry Anna. The doctors are doing everything they can to save her."

Anna stood still, staring at the flurry of activity surrounding her beloved sister. Emma watched as the delightful auburn girl who had earlier been overflowing with love and joy and zest suddenly became enveloped in an air of sadness and despair. The blonde felt her knees buckle as guilt allowed itself to swirl with her distress. "This is my fault," she sobbed. "I tried to look after her. I failed..." Hook snaked an arm around her waist to stop her collapsing as David firmly grasped his daughter's shoulders and forced her eyes to meet his.

"No Emma. No. You saved her! You got her to believe that she could be loved by someone other than her sister. That her life was worth living. I may have been the one who said the words, but it was you who made her see it. You got her to actually believe it. You loved her when we couldn't find her sister. You gave her that love she desperately needed. You didn't give up on her. "

Emma stared into her father's eyes, finding truth and pride. But it did nothing to stop the agonising pain of possibly losing Elsa.

"Whatever happens now, whatever the outcome here...you changed Elsa's life. For the better. You did not fail her. You're a saviour in more ways than one."

The sudden screech of the heart monitor caused everyone to turn to Elsa's bed.

" _She's fibrillating. Get the defib now!_ "

" _Start compressions._ "

Emma felt a painful chill course through her body. "NO ELSA! Please...no..." Hook felt her body go limp and slowly lowered her to the floor, keeping her secure in his loving embrace. The pirate stroked her hair gently as she shook and sobbed against his shoulder.

Anna felt a strange calmness consume her as she walked slowly past the others toward her sister's bedside. She could barely see her for all the doctors, nurses, blankets and tubes. "Please stop! All this...stuff you're doing. It won't help her. Only love can save my sister!"

Dr Whale turned to his colleague. "Take over for me. A shot of epi, shock her at 180." He then faced a distraught Anna. "Miss, we are doing all we can to help your sister. But we have to do all this to give her a chance. She has severe hypothermia. She is is dangerously cold...she's dying."

Anna gently shook her head and laid her hand on the doctor's arm. "No. Please...just leave her be. Love will thaw."

Dr Whale shook his head sympathetically as he felt a small wave of relief wash over him. He was certain they would not be able to revive the young queen. He felt relieved to have the decision to stop treatment taken out of his hands. In a town full of powerful magic and sorcery, he would never truly be certain of the consequences of anyone dying in his care. He especially feared for this one; the death of a magical monarch from the past could surely not bode well for their present timeline. And with Regina in the room, he did NOT want to be responsible for the death of someone who could be important to her.

He put a hand up, signalling to his co-workers to cease their efforts. "Family requests to stop. Calling it at...4.27pm." The doctor removed the intrusive breathing tube from Elsa's mouth and hushed the screeching monitors. "We'll leave you alone with her. Please, accept my sincere apologies. "

Anna offered him a small yet hopeful smile as she took Elsa's cold, limp hand in her own. She gazed at her sister's pale features as she smoothed a lock of hair over her ear. "Elsa? It's me, Anna. I'm here. C'mon now, you know the drill. An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart, right? Only it's you that's frozen this time and...and I'm...not magical like you and I don't think this will work but I want it to, I want to believe it will because I love you so so much...with all my heart and all my soul. I can't live without you..."

Emma watched the heartbreaking scene in front of her, tears burning her cheeks, her ragged breaths burning her chest. The room was drenched in a mournful silence, punctuated with hitched breaths and muted sobs.

'I love you too, Elsa.' Emma thought, not wanting to intrude on Anna's grief. 'You're the only one who understood me. My only real friend.' Her mind suddenly flashed back to something the Snow Queen said in the forest - 'I have twice the power you have.'

"Twice the power..." she whispered. She rushed over to the other side of Elsa's bed, holding her almost-blue hand and placing her other hand over Elsa's heart. "Keep loving on her, Anna. We just need twice the power. Twice as much love to overcome that amount of evil." The red rimmed eyes of both women met, both daring to hope that this would work. The red head placed a hand on top of Emma's glowing hand on the young queen's chest as they focused all their love into her freezing body.

Hook, David and Regina watched in awe as light magic swirled from Emma's hand, dancing over Elsa's skin which slowly but surely returned to a healthy, peachy hue. A collective gasp resonated as the previously lifeless blonde drew in a gentle breath. Tears of sorrow quickly transformed to tears of joy as Elsa slowly opened her eyes and squeezed the hands that encased her own. Anna's high pitched squeal tore through the room, uplifting everyone in there. "We did it! I mean you did it, I mean wow, your magic is amazing, you brought my sister back..."

Emma smiled. "WE did it, Anna. It took both of us. Love is the greatest magic of all."

Elsa gazed up at the two women, clearly - and thankfully - oblivious as to what had transpired since she passed out in the forest. A sweet, tired smile graced her lips as she locked eyes with her best friend. "Emma, could we have pizza again? I'm starving."

Emma let out a sound that resembled a sob crossed with a laugh. The relief that filled her mind and body was identical to the time she saved Henry with a true love's kiss. She knew that someday they would figure out how to get the sisters back to their kingdom, back to their own time. But until that time arose, Emma Swan vowed to make everyday with Elsa count. To relish the beautiful experience of having a real friend. "You, kiddo, can have anything you want for dinner. I will even round up all the chocolate in Storybrooke!"

"Chocolate? Ooh, you hear that, Elsa? Chocolate!" Anna teased.

Elsa smiled radiantly at Emma, thinking of her favourite treat. She then looked lovingly at her younger sister. "Anna? Please promise me you'll never go away again?"

Anna rested her head against her sister's. "Oh, I am NEVER leaving you alone again! Just look at the trouble you get into, you little stinker!"

Elsa smiled and grasped the two women's hands as tightly over her chest as her tired muscles would let her. She wasn't ready to let go of the two most important people in her life as sleep overtook her exhausted body and mind. Her aunt, the Snow Queen would have to wait. For now, in this moment, she was safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you enjoyed it or not. I welcome both positive and negative reviews :)
> 
> I have often wondered if Elsa could ever get hypothermia...


End file.
